a) Field of the Invention
The present invention is concerned with a mounting bracket for use to install in a retrofit manner a shelving accessory into an office shelving of the type comprising at least two sets of front and rear posts forming together a supporting frame structure of rectangular cross-section.
By "shelving accessory", there is meant hereinafter any kind of open and closed file drawers, storage drawers, roll-out frames, flipper doors and suspended bars that may be attached either directly or, more often, through a pair of rails or runners, to the frame of an office shelving.
b) Brief description of the prior art
A great number of office shelvings of good quality presently available on the U.S. market, like those sold by AURORA, TENNSCO or SPACESAVER, include a rectangular frame structure of the above mentioned type, comprising two sets of L- or T-shaped front and rear posts. The front and rear posts of each set usually have perforated surfaces facing each other, each perforated surface comprising at least one vertical row of equally spaced apart openings in which bolts can be inserted.
The posts are designed to support the shelving accessories of the office shelving, which are attached either directly or through guiding rails or runners to a pair of lateral mounting brackets which are themselves rigidly attached with bolts to the opposite sets of posts. Usually, the attachment of the mounting brackets to the posts is made in the factory while the shelving is being assembled. Once attached, the mounting brackets are usually very hard to remove and change.
More and more often, it happens that owners of office shelvings want to "convert" them from one originally intended use to another one, which may require different kinds of drawers, roll-out frames or flipper doors. Such accessories are available as such on the market. However, it is almost impossible now to buy them and have them easily installed on an existing office shelving frame of the above mentioned type, for the reason explained hereinabove.